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Mid-Wales

For the purposes of this page Mid-Wales comprises the current counties of Powys and Ceredigion.

This area includes the old counties of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Cardiganshire and parts of Merionethshire, Brecknockshire and Carmarthenshire.

The books are arranged by publication date with the most recent at the top.

Wales

Wales

For bird books that cover specific regions see:

Anglesey
Mid-Wales
North Wales
South Wales
Pembrokeshire

The Birds of Radnorshire

Peter Jennings

2014

An avifauna that describes the status and distribution of 254 species recorded in the historic country of Radnorshire.

Birds of Ceredigion

Hywel Roderick and Peter Davis

2010

"A wealth of information on the history, distribution and records of birds in the county .... copiously illustrated with numerous figures, and graphs of both the present occurrence and changing status of the county avifauna."

Afon Ystwyth: The Story of a River

John Green

2006

"This is the first book to be written specifically about the River Ystwyth. While it is not a prestigious or notable river in terms of its size or commercial importance, it flows through one of the most picturesque areas of Britain. This written portrait provides a geological and historical background, but is primarily devoted to the wonderfully evocative landscape through which it flows and the wildlife to be encountered along its route. The river is described through the four seasons, revealing the changes that these bring to the plant and animal life. It is a river which can be easily followed, from source to estuary, on foot. To assist the reader, a series of short walks are described which, if all of them are completed, take in its full length. This book is dedicated to all those who love the Welsh countryside, its birds, flowers and unique visual beauty."

Red Kite Country: A Celebration of the Wildlife and Landscape of Mid Wales

Mike Reid and Colin Woolf

2004

"A celebration of the wildlife and landscapes of Mid Wales illustrated with 139 photographs by Mike Reid and 13 watercolour paintings and 32 illustrations by Colin Woolf. Includes a section about the Red Kite."

Wings Over the Valley: A Bird Watcher's Wales Diary

John Green

2000

A diary recording observations of birdlife in a valley near the Cardigan Bay coastline of mid-Wales.

Birds of Breconshire

M.F. Peers and M. Shrubb

1990

In Search Of Birds Mid Wales

Brian O'Shea and John Green

1988

The Nature of Central Wales

The Wildlife and Ecology of Powys

Fred Slater

1988

The Nature Of West Wales

The Wildlife And Ecology Of The County Of Dyfed

David Saunders

1986

Birds of Radnorshire and mid-Powys

Martin Peers

Privately printed

1985

A 60 page booklet.

Birds of Breconshire: A Review of Status and Distribution

M.E. Massey

1976

Birds of Cardiganshire

G.C.S. Ingram, H.M. Salmon and W.M. Condry

West Wales Naturalists Trust

1966

The Birds of Brecknock

G.C.S. Ingram and H.M. Salmon

1957

A Hand List Of The Birds Of Radnorshire

G.C.S. Ingram and H.M. Salmon

1955

Birds of Breconshire

E.Cambridge Phillips

1899

From the preface:

""From the foregoing it will be seen that it is now nearly 17 years ago that I printed for private circulation a List of the Birds of this County. Since then I am glad to say lovers of Birds here have greatly increased, and the study of ornithology has spread among all classes. Many birds have also occurred which have not before been recorded, whilst some have increased, notably the Peregrine, Black Grouse, Stock-Dove, Nuthatch, and the Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers; and others have to a certain extent decreased. Still the list has now reached a most encouraging total, and, as I have carefully noted the occurrence of every fresh bird up to the present time, and there unfortunately being (what is so much required) no Natural History Museum in the County, I have yielded to the solicitations of many of my friends and resolved to publish the list in its entirety, trusting that it may be useful to all bird lovers, and possibly be of some value here and elsewhere at a future day."

The Naturalist In Siluria (Herefordshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire and Glamorganshire)

Captain Mayne Reid

1890

Opening lines:

"I dwell in a district of country remarkable for its richness in plant and animal life; I mean, of course, the wild and indigenous. So varied and plentiful are the species that in these respects I venture to believe there is no other part of England, or, indeed, the United Kingdom, which can at all compare with it. This profusion is chiefly due to its peculiar geological features. As will be easily understood, the geology of any particular part of the earth's surface affects the character of its botany so much that the former may appropriately be termed the parent of the latter; while, in turn, the plant-life may be regarded as the creator and nursing-mother of all that 'lives, moves, and hath being.' If, for instance, some grand upheaval volcanic, plutonic, or by whatever name called have tossed to the surface a varied series of the stratified rocks which form the earth's crust, and left their tilted edges exposed to the atmosphere, there will spring up on them a varied vegtation, with animal life in like manner diversified. And it will also be obvious that the more abrupt the dip of the upheaved strata the greater will be this variety within the limits of a given district; as, of course, the sharper the angle of elevation the narrower the exposed surface of any particular stratum. Now I am living in the immediate neighbourhood of more than one such upheaval; but one so remarkable as to have a worldwide repute. For my residence is in Siluria, contiguous to that singular and symmetrical 'valley of elevation' known as Woolhope. From the summit of a high wooded hill, Penyard, which rises abruptly in rear of my house, I can look over the whole series of Upper Silurian rocks, from the northern edge of their upcast at Mordiford, near the city of Hereford, to their southern projection by Gorstley in Gloucestershire. There they dip under the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone, again to show upon the surface a little farther south, in the smooth-rounded dome of May Hill, standing solitary, with its crest of Scotch firs conspicuous from afar."

Birds of Breconshire

E.Cambridge Phillips

1882

"Having for many years been in the habit of jotting down the occurrence of the rarer British birds in this county, as the reports have reached me from time to time, and as no list of the birds of this county has hitherto been published, I determined, at the suggestion of a few friends, to bring out the same in a series of papers, which have appeared accordingly in The Zoologist. Owing to the favourable reception accorded to the above by some of our leading ornithologists, I have thought it desirable to reprint the same in book - form for private circulation."